Norman Lear addresses why he won’t visit White House before Kennedy Center Honors

When the Kennedy Center Honors ceremony takes place this Winter there will be one honoree who won’t attend the traditional ceremony held at the White House the evening before the pre-taped event at the Kennedy Center.

Legendary writer and television producer Norman Lear, who is the mastermind behind such iconic shows as “All In The Family,” “One Day At a Time,” “The Jeffersons,” and “Good Times” will be honored for his body of work at Kenndey but has opted to skip the event taking place at The White House before.

“I think of it as a very simple decision,” Lear told television critics during the “One Day At a Time” panel at Sony Studios during TCA. “The Kennedy Center is about the arts and humanities.  I’m somebody who believes, when the world is safe for everybody, the arts will play a large part in that.  And a presidency that doesn’t… that turns its back on the arts and refuses to fund the arts and humanities, I can’t imagine wishing to go there.  And that’s entirely the basis.  It’s almost not political but for that.  I understand everything else that’s going on, and you can imagine how I feel about the individual, but it’s the turning of the presidency’s back on the arts and humanities that I can’t honor that with a visit.”

Lear will receive the honor alongside of Lionel Richie, LL Cool J, Gloria Estefan, and Carmende Lavallade.

The Kennedy Center Honors will air in December on CBS.